While much is made of Minnesota Duluth's rivalries with Minnesota and Wisconsin, there's another conference rival who in recent years has also got the Bulldogs' blood pumping.
That's Bemidji State, who UMD has squared off against in the first round of the WCHA playoffs three of the last four seasons. The Beavers have won two of those three series winning both - including last year - at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
The two postseason rivals meet again at Amsoil this weekend for a WCHA regular season series with the puck dropping at 3:07 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
"Looking forward to coming back home and playing Bemidji. We have a lot of history with that team," Bulldogs coach Maura Crowell said. "I know some players have a little chip on their shoulders looking to get back at the Beavers after last year's ending."
The Bulldogs and Beavers met in the first round of the WCHA playoffs in 2015 in Duluth, 2016 in Bemidji and a year ago back in Duluth. All three times, the lower seed went on the road to upset the home team.
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Fifth-seeded Bemidji officially ended Shannon Miller's tenure as head coach of the fourth-seeded Bulldogs in 2015, winning a three-game series at Amsoil 3-2, 0-2 and 2-1, with the Game 3 victory coming 12:08 into overtime.
The following year, the sixth-seeded Bulldogs swept the third-seeded Beavers at the Sanford Center in Bemidji 5-1 and 2-1 in what was Crowell's first season at UMD. The Beavers had to wait two seasons to enact revenge, winning another No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup last year in three games 2-1, 1-4 and 3-0.
Crowell said she hopes her team isn't dwelling too much on last year's loss in the WCHA playoffs.
"I think in a good way, we have some people in the locker room that want to make a statement this weekend and we'll thrive off of that energy," Crowell said.
The Beavers (0-4) come to Duluth still looking for their first win of 2018-19. They were swept by defending national champion and No. 1 Clarkson at home before losing on the road at Providence. This is BSU's first WCHA series of the year.
The fifth-ranked Bulldogs (2-3-1 overall, 0-3-1 WCHA) have already played two WCHA series - against No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 3 Minnesota - but their only victory in conference play was a shootout win over the Gophers.
"What's encouraging is that we played with all those teams," said Crowell, whose Bulldogs opened the season with a home sweep of Boston College, currently ranked sixth. "We got some wins throughout the course of those three weeks and moving forward, that's what we're going to build on."
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BEMIDJI STATE (0-4) AT NO. 5 UMD (2-3-1)
What: WCHA series
When: 3:07 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Amsoil Arena
Internet: flohockey.tv (video)
Twitter: @mattwellens
Fast facts: Including the three-game WCHA playoff series, the Bulldogs and Beavers played eight times last season, with Bemidji winning five of those meetings. UMD is 69-17-4 against the Beavers all-time and has only played Minnesota (92) and Wisconsin (90) more than Bemidji (89).
